Industrial action is "inevitable" on the network which covers large parts of northern England

by jon lockett

9th January 2017, 12:04 am

Updated: 9th January 2017, 12:04 am

THE rail strikes which have caused commuter misery in the south of England are set to spread across the country, it has emerged.

Industrial action is "inevitable" on the Northern rail network which covers a swathe of northern England including commuter services in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne and Hull, a union boss warned.

Meanwhile, thousands of BA cabin crew will start a two-day strike on Tuesday, which has forced the airline to cancel up to 48 flights, although passengers who have booked will be put on alternative departures the same day.

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He said Arriva had told him it is unable to negotiate over the issue because of a "directive" from the Department for Transport, adding that this meant "it's inevitable" that it will end up in an industrial dispute:

"It's regrettable ... unless we sit down and address this correctly in a genuine fashion it's inevitable that it will end up in a trade dispute," he said.

With around 2,500 services carrying 270,000 passengers each day, strikes on Northern would result in almost the same scale of disruption that has been seen on Southern.